Israeli election casts ex-TV anchor as kingmaker

Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech at his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to capture as many as 19 seats, becoming parliament's second-largest party, after Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu bloc, which won 31, according to the exit polls. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
— AP

Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech at his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to capture as many as 19 seats, becoming parliament's second-largest party, after Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu bloc, which won 31, according to the exit polls. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
/ AP

Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech at his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv, early Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to capture as many as 19 seats, becoming parliament's second-largest party, after Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu bloc, which won 31, according to the exit polls. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)— AP

Yair Lapid gestures as he delivers a speech at his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv, early Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to capture as many as 19 seats, becoming parliament's second-largest party, after Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu bloc, which won 31, according to the exit polls. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
/ AP

Yair Lapid celebrates with members of his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv, early Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to capture as many as 19 seats, becoming parliament's second-largest party, after Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu bloc, which won 31, according to the exit polls. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)— AP

Yair Lapid celebrates with members of his "Yesh Atid" party in Tel-Aviv, early Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. The party, formed just over a year ago, out did forecasts by far and are predicted to capture as many as 19 seats, becoming parliament's second-largest party, after Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu bloc, which won 31, according to the exit polls. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
/ AP

JERUSALEM 
Israel's election has put a suave former TV news anchor and political novice in the role of kingmaker, and he has signaled he will use his power to try to move the next government to more centrist positions on Mideast peacemaking.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to form the coalition as the head of the largest party, but that is not a certainty. A nearly complete vote count Wednesday showed a deadlock between Netanyahu's hawkish bloc and the center-left camp.

It appears Netanyahu's future in office may depend on newcomer Yair Lapid.

Lapid's Yesh Atid, or There is a Future, emerged as the second-largest party in Israel's parliament after the prime minister's bloc, giving the 49-year-old former journalist unexpectedly strong leverage in upcoming coalition negotiations.

Lapid told cheering supporters after Tuesday's election that he wants a broad alliance of moderates, suggesting he would try to prod Netanyahu to abandon his traditional right-wing and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.

That might be tough in Israel's cluttered political landscape of small parties with sharp ideological differences. Veteran political commentators were left scratching their heads when trying to come up with scenarios for a stable Netanyahu-led coalition.

With 99.8 percent of votes counted, Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu electoral bloc won 31 seats in the 120-member parliament, remaining the largest party, but down from 42 in the 2009 election. Lapid's party won 19 seats, followed by 15 for the centrist Labor, 11 for the ultra-Orthodox Shas and 11 for the pro-settler Jewish Home.

Israeli voters do not directly elect the prime minister - that depends instead on post-election negotiations in which the party leader who has the best chance of putting together a majority coalition in the newly-chosen parliament is given an opportunity to do so, offering both Cabinet posts and policy concessions to other blocs.

That person will have up to six weeks to form a coalition. If successful, he or she becomes prime minister. In the unlikely scenario that he or she is not successful, another party is chosen to try.

Although the blocs appear evenly split, Netanyahu would likely get the first shot at trying to form a coalition government, because the center-left bloc draws 12 of its parliamentary seats from Arab parties that traditionally neither have been asked nor sought to join coalitions.

With the blocs tied, Netanyahu will likely try to woo Lapid into joining his coalition.

Lapid told reporters Wednesday he won't challenge a Netanyahu-led majority coalition by teaming up with other center-left parties, a move considered a distant possibility. Lapid has, called for "as broad a government as possible" that would include "moderate forces from the left and right," but leaving unclear which partners he prefers.

Lapid is a member of Tel Aviv's secular elite, the son of a former Cabinet minister and one of Israel's best-known faces, yet has portrayed himself as an average Israeli and champion of a middle class struggling to make ends meet.

During the campaign, he largely focused on domestic concerns, such as improving the education system, offering more affordable housing and ending blanket military draft exemptions and government stipends for ultra-Orthodox Jews.